A Present to Give, A Christmas to Remember
by raitei
Summary: Christmas was always the most funloving event in Vale. But what was Christmas in the eyes of Kay.. as a friend, as a family member, and as a sister? Twoshot, dedicated to Princess Viv.
1. Make A Wish

* * *

"_And when we give a mere turn of the head, ten years have past."_

**A Present To Give, A Christmas To Remember**

**Part One: Make A Wish…**

_By raitei_

_Dedicated to Princess Viv_

_

* * *

_

----I----  
"_The past makes you the person you are now."_

_  
8th February, 1 P.M._

_Dear Diary,_

_I just felt like writing now, but of course, I'll make another entry tonight. Today's been a real tiring day! I felt like flopping down on my bed... it felt so tempting… but it's too hot to lie down on my bed in the afternoon. I've been taking care of my flowers the whole day. Why, you ask? Blame it on Garet! You know, he was practicing his 'Move' Psynergy with some tall log and it practically CRUSHED my flowers! I was so mad, even little Aaron could notice it! I even heard him saying to Garet, "You're in trouble now, Garet… your sister's really mad!" Right he was… luckily Garet didn't just say "Oops, sorry Kay!" and run off; if he did, oh, I'm gonna give him the worst spanking he ever had! _

_Really, that brother of mine is so busy with his Psynergy training nowadays… no, ever since that incident three years ago… you know, ever since the boulder fell, he had suddenly developed an instant wanting to hone his Psynergy skills. As much as people think that Garet's just a clumsy oaf, I think otherwise, really. He's as caring as you and me, but he just keeps it down, and if it ever rises to the surface, he shows it clumsily, you know what I mean? I think he was pretty much saddened and affected by Uncle Kyle, Felix and Jenna's parents' deaths; he must have saw how much it hurt Isaac… and especially Jenna… maybe he thought that it was so unfair for her… we were so lucky to have everyone in our family alive, and yet Jenna's whole family was gone in an instant… I think I can understand. I feel so sad for Jenna and Isaac… and for Aunt Dora as well… losing a loved one must be heartbreaking._

_I better go and do my afternoon chores. Mum's calling me._

Feeling tired,  
_Kay _

_----II----  
_"_The beginning of a new day is always the best, or so they say." _

It was another peaceful day like any other in the small, rural village of Vale. Sol arose in its mighty glow and took its place as daylight approached slowly, bathing the world of Angara with its welcoming light and warmth. The birds chirped cheerfully as they soared merrily in the sky, conversing among their playmates freely. The sky was a lovely shade of clear blue, promising a delightful day to come. What else could any other person alive wish for? Everything was so calm, peaceful, serene and pleasant… especially in Vale, where the villagers were united in harmony, creating a tight bond that nothing could ever shatter. It was almost too good to be true.

Half a year had gone by ever since young Isaac, Garet, Ivan, Felix, Jenna, Sheba, Mia and Piers had returned from their long, tiring journey of saving the entire world of Weyard through the lighting of the four elemental lighthouses in the various continents. Tired but determined to resolve their quest, they had succeeded. And although their homes were of different places, friendship bounded the eight of them together strongly. Many a time the four Valeans had received a welcoming visit from their friends, either to catch up on each other or to lend a helping hand towards the reconstruction of Vale once more. With eight strong willing Adepts at disposal, the work went well, and the reconstructions were almost at an end.

Life was, indeed, good.

_Puump._

"GAAREEEETTTT!"

A loud feminine scream resonated throughout the whole silent village. Luckily, as it was past 10 o'clock, most villagers were already up and awake, so no one was shaken up from the dead, as we can safely say.

"Oops… calm down, sis! Um…"

"That's the FIFTH time in two consecutive days you've made a hole in our roof! How do you expect me to calm down, Garet! Come down here!"

Grumbling under his breath, the spiky redhead named Garet hopped off from the roof of his house and landed lightly beside his fuming sister who stood by the doorstep. Grinning apologetically back at her quite unsuccessfully, he tried to defend himself and make the best case out of it if he could. "Well, I… I didn't mean to do that, really… I couldn't help it!"

Kay pursed up her lips in annoyance. "You mean you COULD help it, but you just had to land your butt on those specific unlucky places, knowing that you're so heavy and clumsy," she grumbled.

"Oh, come on, Kay!" Garet groaned. "I don't feel like arguing right now, you know… I'm sorry, okay? I'll get some hay and patch it up now, alright?"

Allowing her lips to quirk up slightly, her previous cheerful mood restored, Kay shook her head. "Nice of you to offer, but I guess you can do that later, Garet. I know you want to hang around with those friends of yours, so you can go. I'll make up some excuse for Mum. Just be glad that it's Christmas Eve and I don't feel like bashing you over a mere hole," she smirked.

His eyebrows raised, Garet chuckled. "Wow, I didn't know Christmas was so infectious."

"Well, you'd better go before I change my mind, Garet," she hinted back with a grin. "You never know."

"Mood swings, eh? I'll take the cue then. Thanks a bunch!" Grinning widely back at her, the redhead sprinted off towards the plaza located in the center of the town, where he and the rest had planned to meet the previous night.

_One more day to Christmas…_ Kay mused happily. _Guess I should go back inside; it's a bit chilly today. I wonder if Aaron's already awake…_

As she turned around to reenter her house, her eyes caught sight of her bedding patch of flowers around the corner. Immediately she gasped in horror. What was once lovely flowers blooming under Kay's tremendous affection and tender care was now in a trampled condition; squished leaves splattered on the ground, and big heavy footprints embedded on the flowers.

Kay's eyebrow twitched heavily as she surveyed the damages towards her flowers.

"GAARREEEEETTT!"

----III----  
"_Curiosity kills the cat, but it is inevitable."_

_8th February, 9:45 P.M._

_Dear Diary,_

_Today was so hectic; so many things happened helter-skelter at once, I felt quite dazed at first. There was an eruption on Mount Aleph! The villagers didn't think for one moment that it would erupt at all… I think THAT even added to the shock, even though we weren't in the danger zone. It was so frightening, you know… the earth shook quite terribly, but when I was standing on the ground, somehow, I realized that it wasn't because of the eruption that I was so scared… I was scared for Garet. Funny, isn't it? I was scared that he would get caught in the middle of the eruption, because we couldn't find him anywhere else… and someone even saw him at the Sol Sanctum. But thank the Wise One, whoever he is; he saved Garet and Isaac. I was so relieved when he came out safe and sound… it was as if a big weight had been lifted off my shoulders. God, I'm so sisterly. :) _

_Anyway, I found out that Isaac, Jenna and him had climbed Mount Aleph together with Kraden; I'm not too sure why, but I heard that they were curious about something, and it had to do with those two strangers that called on Kraden. But the bad news is that those unknown foreigners kidnapped Kraden and Jenna in the sanctum! Can you believe that? Vale has always been so peaceful until now… and the bad news doesn't stop there; Felix was with them as well! According to Garet's tale, it seemed that those foreigners rescued him, and he survived… I almost couldn't believe it myself. All of us thought that he was… dead… I can imagine Jenna's pure amazement by just even seeing his face in front of her._

_Just when you think you've reached the bad ending, you realise that you've just reached the climax… I heard from dad that Isaac and Garet are leaving on a long, dangerous journey to rescue Jenna and Kraden… and that's the main thing bugging me now. …I don't know how exactly I feel right now. I can't put it into words. I'm… sad… and scared… I don't really want Garet to go. It's so dangerous outside there, he… he could easily get killed! There's no telling of what could be out there. _

_Frankly, I don't want to lose a brother… I don't want to lose someone precious to me; I've already seen how much it hurts. I'm afraid of that… I want to avoid that if I can. Sometimes, I wish that Garet wouldn't need to leave Vale; but deep down, there isn't a question about that. Even if he didn't need to, I know… I know that he will volunteer to go with Isaac, to accompany him and rescue his friends… that's the Garet I know. I can't be selfish… he needs to go. He wouldn't want Isaac to travel alone, to push all of the responsibility and job to one person… he'd feel downright bad. He'd regret that his whole life. I think I understand. I have to. _

_I just have to pull myself together, and wait… wait with everyone. If we can't do anything, then all we can do is just wait patiently, Aaron said. Aaron's growing up a lot too… but the person suffering the most right now is Aunt Dora. She's only got Isaac, and he's leaving her… but she still let him go; she even told him not to visit her back in Vale until he completed his journey. Aunt Dora is a wonderful woman… if she can still be strong and wait cheerfully everyday, then there shouldn't be a reason why I can't too. I just hope… and pray with all my heart, that my brother will come back safely… and return to us. _

_Mars help him and Isaac. _

_Silently praying,  
__Kay_

P.S. When I read back, I do sound so mushy and pathetic… so unlike myself. I need more tissue… just kidding. I'm trying to cheer myself up.

_----IV----  
_"_Blue or blaze? Bah, who cares? It's just a pillowcase."_

"Hmm… this blue one looks nice, but pink is nice as well… yeah, I think I'll get that for Jam—"

"…Um… Kay?"

Kay spun around with a frown on her face. Her long flaming red hair tied in a neat ponytail swung back, contrasting with her light purple blouse she wore. "What now? Don't you know that it's bad manners to interrupt someone when she's busy thinking?"

Garet flinched, grinning sheepishly. "Uh… how long again do you plan to shop?"

Taken aback by the question, Kay cocked her head quizzically. "Well, I don't know… but I plan to buy all the things that I want this afternoon, because I've got to help the villagers with the town decorations tonight."

Her brother groaned heavily. "Oh man… and how many more presents do you need?"

"Let's see… there's still the presents for Kraden, Maria, Elyssa, Jon and Jimmy, Louise and Katherine. That's seven more to go. Not that many," she answered, counting with her fingers. "Why?" she asked, flashing an amused look at her brother's dismayed face.

"Not that many…" the redhead grumbled under his breath. He looked down, and Kay followed his gaze. She smirked. Throughout her afternoon Christmas shopping so far, Garet had grudgingly been her servant for the day, carrying all of the many bags. And it was always the saying that women's shopping was no place for men, but since Kay's mother was on her good moods today, she had insisted that Garet be quite the gentleman and accompany 'your dear, helpful sister' (as she put it) on her shopping spree. No job nobler than helping your sibling, or so she said.

"Too bad," Kay said laconically, patting him on the shoulder. "At least I'm not like some people out there who fuss just over a matter of choosing colour for a pillowcase, you know. But colours are just as important when it comes to clothes. You've received a lot of training during your journey, haven't you, Garet? This should be nothing to you in all probability."

"Yeah, but I didn't carry rocks for two long, BORING hours, you know…" he muttered. Not to mention getting disturbed by those 'little twits' who kept teasing him being 'helpful, little Garet' as he trudged along the streets of Vale lined with all varieties of shops, he thought. He merely received a glare in return for referring to the presents as 'rocks'.

"Well, it's your fault for stepping on my flowers this morning. And if you're sooo bored, YOU tell me what present I should give to Kraden. I've been thinking now and then but I still can't think of what he'd like for a Christmas present," she snapped back. A sudden thought occurred to her and she leaned forward curiously. "What did you get for Kraden anyway?"

Grinning broadly, he replied, "Oh, that. Isaac, Felix, Jenna, Ivan, Mia, Piers, Sheba and I are giving him a shared present. We're giving him a taste of our own Psynergy."

Kay gaped. "You mean you're going to toast him, Garet! But you can't—"

"No, no, you got it the wrong way. I meant that we're giving him those types of healing and supportive Psynergies, you know? Like Jenna's Aura, for example. Just to spice him up, even though it's not needed at all. He had always wanted to 'experience the feeling', he said. We didn't want to do it last time, because it'd just drain our energy unnecessarily. Sounds stupid, but he'd like it. And maybe we'll give him a demonstration of our Psynergy too. He's been totally dying to see all of them," he grinned.

"Oh… sounds like a weird present to me." As Garet opened his mouth to reply, she cut him off. "I know, you're going to say that Kraden is weird too, so it makes sense. Right?" Kay asked.

Taken aback by her words, Garet stared wide-eyed at her. "How did you know?"

"The simplest question, Garet. And the simplest answer." She smiled, winking at him. "I'm your sister, remember?"

"Oh," he blankly replied. Then he brightened up. "So whose name did you get when you took the draw?" he asked.

Kay grinned. "Kraden. That's why I'm thinking of what to buy. You?"

"Jenna," he replied, grinning widely. "So I'll be giving her a double present to make it special."

"Ah, I see. When are you guys getting engaged anyway? Mum has been lecturing you about it, I hear," Kay teased, throwing a knowing look at Garet.

Christmas was one of the most important and celebrated events among the Valeans. Every year, the whole village would hold a special meeting draw among the villagers, where everyone's names would be written down in slips of paper and placed inside a box. One by one, the villagers would take one slip of paper, and that person would have to get a present for the other's name that was written in his/her paper. And that would be another person down on their list to buy Christmas presents for. When Christmas came, everyone would group in the town plaza and open his/her presents. The recipient could take a shot at guessing who got the present. But if it was wrong, the giver of the present could either choose to reveal his identity or remain anonymous to the recipient.

But that was only a part of the Christmas tradition in Vale. After that, a feast would be held in the mayor's house, then Christmas afternoon spent in the town, playing all kinds of games (especially snowballing, marking a favourite among the young); and the night was spent with their own families at home, enjoying the night of Christmas. There was no doubt at all that Christmas had a special place in everyone's heart, young and old.

Garet chose to ignore her question. He merely stared up at the clear blue sky, flipping his hair back as the chilly winds swept them. "You know, I wonder why it isn't snowing… all this while, it was always snowing when Christmas came. And it's not like it's spring, either. Like between both. Winter's real late."

She followed his gaze, and slowly nodded. "I was thinking the same thing too… somehow, Christmas doesn't seem quite the same without snow, don't you think?"

"Yeah. And that means we won't be able to build a snowman and play the snowballing game tomorrow if it doesn't snow," he said ruefully.

Kay smacked her forehead, rolling her eyes. "Aw, too bad," she mocked sarcastically. "Snowballing is one of your top favorites, I know."

"But not Kraden's. Remember that time when we were still small, and Kraden was so fed up with us all because we kept launching snowballs at him?" he reminded, laughing heartily as he did so.

Kay joined in his laughter. "Yeah, especially you. Good old times." She shook her head slowly, smiling pleasantly.

A thought struck him. "…Hey Kay, if I'm shopping with you, then it means that my present is somewhere here, right?" he smirked.

Kay started walking away, a light smile on her lips. "I don't know. You shouldn't ask, you know. Have I asked you what you've gotten me for my Christmas present? No. It's a little improper."

He dashed after her, eager to extract the answer out from her. "Aha! That means yes, right?"

"How'd you know?" she pounced.

"I'm your brother, remember?" he proudly countered, imitating her words a moment ago.

She rolled her eyes. "That doesn't really make sense, you know… and you're a copycat."

"Wrong," Garet corrected her, "copyboar. I'm born in the year of the boar, remember?" (1)

Kay laughed, hitting him on the back as he walked beside her, the bags swinging along. "Silly."

_  
----V----  
_"_Blood is forever a million times thicker than water."_

_  
9th May, 8:56 P.M._

_Dear Diary,_

_Remember me saying that I like the month of May? Yeah, it's my birthday today! I got lots of presents; let's see… Mum got me a pair of lovely earrings, Dad gave me a brand new knitting set (which I was glad for; mine was spoiled), Aaron got me a nice cute ribbon, and even grandpa and grandma gave me presents too! It was really fun opening all those presents. And did you know that today's Mother's Day too? Coincidence, isn't it? We all gave Mum presents, and gave her a 'day-off' from her usual chores; she was very happy about it. _

_But you know, truthfully, well, it doesn't seem as much fun compared to my last year's birthday. Not like I'm complaining, oh no; it just doesn't seem just as fun without Garet, Isaac and Jenna, you know? Last year, Garet actually invited the whole village to a surprise birthday party with Isaac and Jenna's help. It was such a grand time… but the village does seem kinda quiet now. It's really peaceful._

_Time passes by quite slowly now, I feel… I still have my own friends, but it's not the same without Garet, ya know? I guess I kinda miss him… and I know Aaron and the whole family do too. I don't need to march into his room every morning and shout him awake to come down for breakfast anymore, but it's so automatic, sometimes I forget that he's not here anymore in Vale. Haha… but at least I still have everyone else. You know, sometimes I wish I could comfort Aunt Dora. She's trying to act cheerfully like she always is, but sometimes, I see her staring at the sky absently, and a silent tear would roll down her cheek… it's so sad to see her putting up a brave show every time. _

_I pray for her that Isaac and Garet's doing well. But I know that both of them will come back someday… together with Kraden and Jenna. They will._

Truly yours,  
_Kay_

__

----VI----  
"_Secrets are meant to be kept silent, but the mind itches to reveal."_

"Ahhh, finally! Home!"

Opening a chestnut-coloured door, the spiky red-haired young teen known as Garet stepped inside tiredly. Without looking, he immediately flopped down on the single bed and gave a heart-yearning yawn. "I kept yawning until tears almost came when I went shopping with her…" he muttered under his breath.

Placing his arms under his head as he prepared to doze off, he undid a button on the collar of his black shirt and closed his eyes slowly. "I'm never going shopping with Kay ever again…" he absently muttered.

"Garet? What in the world do you think you're doing by sleeping on Kay's bed?"

Suddenly, a sharp feminine voice roused him from his train of thoughts. Raising his eyelids in a flash, Garet sat up on the bed and found none other than Jenna, his childhood friend, standing outside the door. "Jenna? What are you doing here?"

"I was just saying hello to your mother when she asked me to run upstairs and see what were you doing. You're lucky she didn't come up herself, otherwise you'd have a good scolding from her," Jenna explained, her arms crossed. "Like I said, why are you sleeping on Kay's bed? She actually ALLOWED you to even go into her room?"

Garet gave a start. "Kay's bed?" His eyes darted around the white-coloured wall of the room, and true enough, he _was _in his sister's room. "What—oh crap, I must have gone into the wrong room by accident! I thought this was my room! I really did!" he objected.

His counterpart only shook her head helplessly. "Garet, Garet… Kay will double, triple spank you if she sees you here, you know. In fact, I'm going to the plaza to meet up with her now to do the decorations. We're in charge of those small kids while they're decorating the Christmas tree at the plaza."

"Oh… you won't tell her that I'd been in her room, right Jenna?" Garet asked almost pleadingly, giving Jenna huge puppy-like eyes. "Please! I don't want another of her shrill screaming! It's just those kind of noise that pierces my ears!"

Smirking at the thought, Jenna leaned herself on the doorway. "Fine, I won't. I'll try to remember," she winked.

"I'd better go out from this room before Mum herself comes up or something," he muttered as he quickly stood up, trying to smooth down the slightly crumpled sheets as much as he could.

"Here, I'll help. Guys are too clumsy with these kind of stuff anyway," Jenna offered.

"Oh, thanks," her counterpart said gratefully, stepping aside to let Jenna do the job. His red-colored eyes wandered around the tidy room curiously, as he had never really stepped into it before. Kay's room consisted of the bed, a few drawers beside the bed, a small cupboard at the left corner of the room, a dressing table and a chair beside it, and a small bookshelf lined with books at the opposite corner. It was as tidy as it could be, an adjective that was never visualized with Garet's own room.

Suddenly his eyes caught sight of four or five big, thick books laid on top of the drawers. The books were ordinary enough, but what caught his interest was a snapshot of his parents, Kay and himself taken a few years ago in the front cover of a purple-coloured book laid on the top of the others. Piqued with curiosity, his hand stretched out and took the book to examine it further. Flipping the page, he was surprised to see that almost all of the pages were full of Kay's neat, small handwriting.

Minutes later, Jenna patted the pillow on the bed lightly as her finishing touch. "There, it's done. Don't you think it's nice and neat—hey, what's that?" she asked, pointing to the thick purple book that Garet was so absorbed in.

"I think it's… here, have a look yourself, Jenna," he offered the book to her. He then took another book and opened it with just as much interest.

Jenna took the book interestedly, and started reading the first page. She uttered an exclamation and read bits and bits here and there, sometimes skipping the pages. Sometimes she giggled and laughed, but when she finally closed the book and handed it over to Garet, there was a smirk plastered on her face.

"She'll kill you if she knew."

_  
----VII----  
_"_Such is human's nature that only their presence are missed when they are gone." _

25th December, 11:48 P.M.

_Dear Diary,_

_Notice the date? Yes, it's Christmas! Like every year, we opened the presents in the plaza (I couldn't guess who was 'responsible' for my nice Christmas present, so it remained unknown), and then we had a feast in my house. I helped out with the cooking and dishes; it was hard work these past few days preparing them, but it was worth it! Not like I'm saying that I'm such a good cook, but a few dishes that I cooked tasted quite good. Mum even commented that I'd make a good cook and housewife when I'm all grown up; can you believe that? _

_Of course, we had a good snowball fight with each other in the afternoon; I teamed up with Mum and fought against Dad and Aaron. It was too bad that Garet wasn't with us, since he and I made quite a good team in the previous games. I loaded the ammunition, and Mum threw the snowballs. It was pretty hectic, but we won! I think a factor contributed to the fact that Aaron's snowballs weren't packed enough and loaded fast, but we had a good fight. Both Dad and Mum were pretty good throwers, I'll say. They'd probably played dozen of times when they were young.  
_

_I still wish Garet and the others would be able to celebrate Christmas with us this year, but it really can't be helped. He would have really enjoyed the feast today. Never mind; we've celebrated Christmas together lots of times. Besides, we can easily celebrate next year's Christmas as one family whole, right? And I bet Mum will cook lots of nice stuff for him to eat. She's probably thinking that he's lacking nutritious food during his tiring journey; she told me so. But I don't think that's the case; he can find food easily. I hope he'll be back by next year's Christmas… he should be. He wouldn't forget us; I'll knock him in the head if he did._

_I'm all tired out. I've exhausted my muscles from the snowballing game. Off to bed!_

_As usual,  
__Kay_

P.S. I should get a new diary soon. That will be my fourth one! Wow.

_  
----VIII----  
_"_Watch out for a shooting star on Christmas Eve, and make a wish."_

"Kway? Kwan yu welp me wang this wittle fueiry dol at da tip of da twee? I cwant wicch it." (2)

Kay held back a giggle as she smiled kindly at five-year-old Sarah capering around her. "Oh, of course, Sarah. I'll help you."

"Yay! Twank yu!" (3)

"You're welcome, Sarah."

"Yay! It's now complete!" Little seven-year-old Karen shouted excitedly.

"Shh, Karen, you're going to make your papa and mama angry if you keep shouting, ya know?" Nine-year-old Elyssa proudly declared.

"Now, now, children, you've all done a good job tonight; you can all go home now."

"Really?" A chorus of nine children asked.

Kay smiled and nodded. They all squealed happily and scampered away back to their homes, their feet pattering quickly on the hard solid ground as they chatted excitedly.

"Yay! Wom!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Home, not 'wom', Sawah!" Maria corrected.

"And that's Sarah for you!" Jimmy laughed.

The inhabitants of Vale were busy hurrying along here and there, excitedly preparing the Christmas decorations around town. Grown-ups and male adults lent a hand in any heavy-duty work, housewives busy preparing food (especially turkey as the Valean Christmas delicacy), while others were tied up decorating their own homes, or cleaning and decorating the town. Even the children were excited at the prospect of hanging little bells, mini-Santa Claus dolls and other decorations at the plaza, and especially at the huge, lovely Christmas tree directly in front of the plaza.

"Hey Kay!" A male voice shouted from the distance.

Turning around, Kay saw that it was none other than Isaac, the spiky-haired blond teen, who had called her from afar. Beside him was the healer Mia who hailed from the town of Imil. From what Kay knew by sight, they were together for some months now, and most of the villagers had already known that Isaac had feelings for the beautiful aqua-haired girl by the frequent visits they had in Vale.

_When I first heard of them being together, I was actually quite surprised… I thought that Isaac liked Jenna in the first place… but then, I thought that Garet liked Jenna, too. I was a little worried that something bad would happen… but everything was okay in the end. Turns out I'm 50-50 right in the end, I guess. _She shrugged her shoulders absently.

"Kay? Kay?"

Snapping to reality, Kay shook her head abruptly as she came face-to-face with Isaac and Mia standing before her. "Oh, Isaac! I'm sorry, I spaced out for a moment there. I was thinking." She smiled and nodded at Mia as a greeting. Truth to tell, she was not really close with many of Garet's non-Valean friends; she had almost hardly chatted with them for a long time. She knew them by face, of course; but saying that she knew them perfectly, eyes, nose and all, was perhaps an understatement. There was once when she could have almost sworn that from afar, that—what was his name? Ivan, wasn't it? And that blonde girl… Sheba, looked so alike, like two peas in a pod!

Isaac smiled. "I could tell."

"Isn't Jenna supposed to be here with you, Kay?" Mia inquired politely.

Kay frowned. That girl really was very late… too late to be considered normal. "Yes, she is, but she hasn't shown up yet. The kids have already done their job, and she hasn't appeared yet. I wonder why."

"You know, the last time I saw her was when she was with—"

"Hey guys!" This time, a feminine shout rang from the opposite street. As all three of them turned in unison, they saw a panting Jenna sprinting towards them, waving her right hand to and fro.

"Well, speak of the devil!" Mia exclaimed.

"Jenna, where were you? Don't tell me you forgot that you were in charge of decorating the Christmas tree with me tonight?" Kay asked, her hands on her hips, pretending to make herself seem angrier than she really felt.

"I'm really sorry, Kay!" she apologized ruefully. "I was with Garet, you see… and well… er… we…" she suddenly paused hesitantly, seemingly having difficulties in choosing her words.

Kay frowned at Jenna's hesitance, her curiosity even more roused than ever. Then light dawned upon her as she guessed what Jenna was probably going to say. "Uh… that's enough, Jenna. I don't think I want to hear more, if you know what I mean," she interposed.

"Oh, I get it," Both Isaac and Mia simultaneously chorused.

Jenna looked confused at her friends' responses, but in a split second the bell rang in her head. "Oh, you—NO, of course it wasn't that! We didn't do anything, I swear! It's just that… er, well… I can't explain it, but it ISN'T what you guys think! Alright?"

Mia giggled at the Mars Adept's restrain. "All the more even more suspicious, you know, Jenna."

"Fine, fine. I'll take that for now." Kay waved the small matter away. "But we're already done with the decorations, Jenna. I think the kids did quite a good job themselves. I told them that they could go home already, that's why they aren't here anymore. What do you think?"

Jenna turned sideways to examine the decorations as asked. The Christmas tree that was as tall as the female Mars Adept was beautifully decorated with lovely red, silver and gold-colored jingling bells, tiny Christmas presents hung onto the huge tree, a few Santa Claus dolls with its reindeers and sleighs, and a few others. Placed under the decorated tree were a few fake colorful presents. And to top it all off, on the very highest tip of the large tree was a pretty fairy doll with a small wand in her hands.

She chuckled when her eyes caught sight of the fairy. "Yeah, they did quite a good job."

"It looks really nice too," Mia commented.

"Hey, Isaac, you're helping us to collect all of the presents tomorrow morning, right?" Jenna suddenly asked.

"Yeah, I am. I've got a cart to help us with the job too," the spiky-headed teen replied with a nod.

"Sounds great, but it wouldn't really be a good idea if it's snowing, y'know?" Kay intervened.

"Yeah, I guess… but since it doesn't seem to be snowing this year, then I guess it's usable," he laughed.

"I suppose…" Mia said laconically, her eyes on the cloud-filled sky. "I wish it'd snow, though… in Imil, the winters lasted longer. So snowing was always a definite yes every year."

"Are you going back there again after Christmas?" Kay inquired.

The aqua-haired Mercury Adept only smiled, and Isaac's hold on her hand only tightened ever so slightly, or so Kay noticed with a sharp amused eye. "Well… I'm not too sure… but Megan and Justin (they're my apprentices) are doing well over there. They're holding up fine."

Jenna clapped her hands together delightedly. "Well, let's not stand here all night! Now that everything's done and all ready, let's go back home and celebrate our own feast! Did you guys bring your food?"

"Yeah." Both Isaac and Mia nodded.

The eight of them had planned their own special Christmas celebration, held on the night of Christmas Eve. It was something that had much in common with a potluck; each of them had to contribute their own unique dish, and all of them would share the food together. In this way, there was a variety of food to share between them. While it was perhaps nothing much, it provided much fun and delight in finding their own dishes along the way. Of course, the males had extra difficulties with that.

"And after that, we go home and sleep! Then when we wake up, it'll be Christmas!" Jenna beamed.

"Yeah; you mean, time to open presents, Jenna?" An amused male voice interrupted. Kay smirked inwardly at the remark.

She spun around and faced a snickering Ivan and Sheba behind her. "Hey! I'm not that bad! Aren't you guys excited too? I know Sheba is! We spent a Christmas together once with Felix and Piers, remember?"

The Jupiter Adept in return only chuckled, her deep green eyes smiling. "Yeah, that was fun, too. But I imagine this year's will be even greater. Where's Felix and Piers, anyway?"

"Oh, Felix went to run some kind of errand for dad, and Piers decided to help him," Felix's sister answered readily. "They'll be back soon, I should think."

"I can't wait for tomorrow; it'll be the first time all the eight of us will be celebrating Christmas together!" Mia smiled.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Kay asked smilingly.

_  
----IX----  
_"_Even tragic fairytales always end happily ever after."_

_  
24th March, 11:20 P.M._

_Dear Diary,_

_I just don't know how to begin… this is a tremendously big day. Garet and the others are back! He finally came back… with Isaac, Jenna, Felix, and four other new friends. I was glad to see Felix on good terms with everyone; I thought that he'd have a few difficulties, seeing that he seemed to be on the opposite side as Isaac and Garet at first. They'd probably settled everything and come on good terms before coming back. But let's start from the beginning, or I'll mess myself up. _

_Let's see… ah yes, you see, the Elder suddenly received a warning from the Wise One, saying that we should all flee and seek safety from some danger. So we did. We trusted the Wise One. But of course, before fleeing I took this book together with me. I couldn't let this book get destroyed too… it holds too many memories for me to let go so easily. So we fled to the hills on the outskirts on Vale. We barely had time to escape. _

_It was just as the Wise One said; suddenly there was a tremble, and Mount Aleph seemed to be erupting again. I wasn't sure what happened, but when I raised my eyes to look at Vale, there wasn't anything more to look at… every single thing that reminded me of my village was gone. While we were sad, we were so grateful to the Wise One for saving us… he, no wait; maybe I should just call 'it' (I don't know how it really looks like anyway, so I don't know if it's a he or she) saved us all. Thank Mars. I wouldn't want to be buried all under that rubble… ugh._

_Anyway, Aaron suddenly kept on rambling that Garet and the others would come back soon; he called it a 'feeling'. Mum said it was more of an 'intuition'. Funny. I thought that only women had intuitions. But whatever it was, they really did come back. But Aaron was so naughty; he proposed to make them think that we were dead, and well, just for the fun of it, we agreed. Even grandpa and grandma wanted to create a stir… and well, I wanted to see Garet's reaction. And it was sure kinda funny to see him all so sad and remorseful, on the verge of breaking down with Isaac standing in the hills overlooking Vale, when all of us were safe and sound! Aunt Dora almost wanted to rush out and meet up with Isaac… and Uncle Kyle. Amazingly, Uncle Kyle and Jenna's parents were alive! We were so speechless when we saw them from afar with our own eyes… Aunt Dora was crying. But at least it wasn't for a sad reason anymore. I'm glad for her._

_But then we heard Garet saying, "Your family's safe, Felix. You don't have to worry anymore… But what am I supposed to do? … I'm all alone now." I remember those exact words until now. And… he actually cried. I think mum almost broke down when she saw Garet crying… I think that was the second time I ever saw him crying in his whole life. I felt so sad for him… it made me thought: what if it really was true? Somehow, I felt like crying myself… everyone was silent as well._

_So we decided to end the game. We started towards them, but Garet didn't see us… but a blonde girl and a blue-haired girl saw us from afar. I saw them smile delightedly… and they began to tease Garet unmercifully. Jenna was so indignant with them at first… then we came up to them. I still remember that Aaron was somehow so gleeful that he got to see Garet crying… Garet was so happy to see us. I'm happy for Aunt Dora as well. She's got her family back; she really deserves it. Everything's just coming right all of a sudden… it feels so right. _

_I can see that Garet's really much more grown-up now… after a year, he's much more taller, and he's certainly put his brute strength to use, I guess. He seems a lot more matured, stronger and all that… but I'm still glad that he's still the same old Garet as he always was. We celebrated the reunion as much as we could, and after everyone had settled down, we decided to rebuild Vale, no matter how long it would take us. So that we would have a proper place to call 'home'. Of course, Garet's new friends volunteered to help out too; I can't really remember their names though. Garet did introduce them to me, but I kinda forgot. I know that the blue-haired girl is named Mia, and the blonde girl is called Sheba. They're all really nice people._

_I'm so happy… and glad… that my family's whole again. And everyone's families as well. Everyone's together again… and everything is in place. After so much trouble and happenings, it's finally ended. Or has it really ended? I've learnt by now that nothing stays peaceful forever… but I hope the peace will last for as long as it can._

_I'm glad it's a happy 'ending' at last. I thank you, Wise One._

_Cheerfully,  
__Kay_

_P.S. Oh wow, this has got to be the longest entry I've ever made so far in this thick book. I'm a really good rambler, I see._

----X----  
"Play, play, play in the snow, leave your marks so others would know."

"It's Christmas! CHRISTMAS! Get your lazy bum up, Garet! BREAKFAST'S COLD!" Kay shouted into her sleeping brother's right ear. 

As if by magic, the words 'Christmas' and 'breakfast' made the sleepyhead immediately wide awake. Bolting out of his blanket-strewn bed, he rubbed his eyes and looked at Kay. "Whoa! What's that for?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? Oh, you mean my clothes?"

The girl had adorned a set of snug-fitting but comfortable Santa Claus clothes; top, bottom, even shoes and everything. All that she needed to complete her costume was the red-pointy hat with the white fluff at the tip that Santa always had. And somehow, the spiky red-haired teen found it humorous.

"Yeah, what's with that Santa costume?" Garet asked teasingly, still in his red-striped pajamas.

"What, you got a problem with that?" Kay retaliated rather huffily as she started for the door handle of Garet's bedroom.

"Hey, no offence. I just didn't expect to see you wearing these kind of stuff, that's all."

"Hmph. Man, do I always need to barge into your room (and without your permission at that) just to wake you up every morning? You're so hopeless, Garet." She shook her head.

_Outwardly, I say that, but when he wasn't here in Vale last year, to think that I actually kinda missed shaking him up every morning! How ironic… _She shook her head again, but unable to refrain a smile forming on her lips.

Just when Garet thought that his sister was mad at him, she turned back with a half-grin stuck on her fair face. "Well, you'd better bathe and get dressed; no use in dilly-dallying and sleeping off such a day like Christmas, you know."

Just the mention of Christmas brought him leaping out from his bed in hurry. "Oh yeah, I forgot! It's CHRISTMAS!" He stretched his hands and peeked outside from a nearby window. What he saw made his mouth gape.

Kay chuckled. "Cat got your tongue, Garet?" she teased smilingly. She followed him towards the same window.

"Wh… it's snowing!"

She grinned. "Yup, it is. I don't know when it started snowing, but it must have started late last night, or rather, early this morning. Everyone's glad that it's now snowing in Vale."

True enough, snow had begun to fall heavily in Vale, and the sepia-colored ground could hardly be seen as those pure white flakes poured down from the cheery skies. Outside, children of all ages were running around joyously, enjoying the fresh smell and breath of winter snow's falling. Wearing warm and thick woollens to prevent colds, they skipped around and played with the snow, all the time laughing merrily.

"Oh yeah, that's great! Now Christmas will be all proper and right-down ready!"

Kay stifled a laugh. "Yes, and now you can play snowballing all you like in the afternoon."

"Of course!" he beamed. "Snowballing is always my favourite game! And if the ground is covered completely by ice this afternoon, maybe I can ski too with the others. Oh man, I can't wait to load snowballs and throw it at people!"

She watched him with humoured eyes as the redhead pulled out a few clothes hurriedly from his wardrobe, and rushed to the bathroom as fast as a hare while humming a Christmas melody with gusto. _Just like an excited little child, really… but again, that's what that makes Garet who he is.  
_

* * *

Notes:

_(1) 'Born in the year of the boar': _Garet's year of the animal was never told, but I associated him with the year of the boar:

'_Boars of both sexes are hardworking and have almost too much energy at times, for they are born with inner strength that few others can match. Offsetting the Boar's bravery is their short temper. Luckily, Boars generally dislike having arguments and seldom harbor any long-term grudges against anyone that has the unfortunate luck of crossing them. Boars are extremely loyal and prefer to have a smaller, more close knit group of friends that are with them a lifetime.' _(Extracted from Fruits Basket manga, Volume 5)

(But Isaac and Jenna are presumably the same age as Garet, so wouldn't they be born in the same year? And Isaac isn't short-tempered… ah well.)

(2) "_Kway? Kwan yu welp me wang this wittle fueiry dol at da tip of da twee? I cwant wicch it": _'Kay? Can you help me hang this little fairy doll at the tip of the tree? I can't reach it."

(3) _"Twank yu":_ thank you


	2. Merry Christmas!

"_Santa Claus was a myth, a legend; but why did people still believe him?" _

**A Present to Give, A Christmas to Remember**

**Part Two: Merry Christmas! **

_By raitei_

_Dedicated to Princess Viv_

_

* * *

_

_----XI----  
_"_If you do something, enjoy it. That's what enjoying life means."_

_1st August, 10:10 P.M._

_Dear Diary,_

_It's the beginning of the month of August! Finally a new month… yeah, and a new month of work too. Today we had another village meeting about our progress. Dad was pretty pleased with all the work done. The reconstructions are going well; we managed to build most of the houses like how it was last time before everything got smashed. I think the next thing we're going to do after completing the houses is to rebuild the plaza somehow. I'm not too sure how it'll go yet… sometimes I lend a hand to help, but I was never good with carrying those heavy stuff here and there; I'm always cleaning up the mess and bringing out food for the villagers to eat. Aaron's not of much help (he admits it himself, albeit grudgingly), but he does run a few simple errands. _

_But we've really been progressing well, I guess. And though rebuilding is pretty much hard work, I can tell that the villagers are enjoying it in a way, too. And with Garet and his friends around here, the villagers' workload has been lessened a lot; I think they were used to doing even worse stuff during their journeys. Sometimes a few of his friends would leave the village and tend to their own matters, but they always came back to visit and help. Mum was always glad to see them. Everything's pretty normal around here, but I'm not complaining about anything, mind you. _

_Speaking of Garet, I think there's something going on between him and Jenna… but nothing direct. Even that guy has finally got someone, eh? Makes me feel as though I'm going to stay single until I'm old. Nah, just a lame joke. I'm going to take a hot bath first before I go to bed; I'm feeling a little sticky. I hate going to bed feeling hot. Yeah, even though Garet says I'm a Mars Adept and I shouldn't mind the heat so much. _

_Feeling well,  
__Kay_

_P.S. Yes, this is my fifth new diary. I like the colour; the purple is a nice shade. Not too bright, but not too dark, either. Luckily all those diaries that I buy can last for some months, otherwise I'm going to have hundreds of diaries by the time I'm fifty years old. _

_  
----XII----  
_"_An hour with friends feels like a minute."_

Low voices of murmurs and excited chatter filled the crowded morning atmosphere in the town plaza of Vale. All of the villagers, young and old, had gathered there by the call of the village bell to celebrate the Christmas festival in union. After much gusto, each rightful individual had opened all of their Christmas presents one-by-one, and many squeals of delight were heard upon receiving their gifts. It was a happy moment indeed, especially for the children.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it has been a long and trying year for us; many things have occurred, but we are glad to have prevailed and lived with all the good and bad throughout the many days. The rebuilding of our village is now successfully completed, and in this I would like to take the opportunity to specially thank Isaac, Felix, Jenna, Garet, and their young friends Ivan, Piers, Mia and Sheba on behalf of the villagers for their extra tremendous help all this time. And as the mayor of Vale, I thank every single one of you present here this morning for all your willingness to start everything afresh again, to do everything together, and to endure all hardships that we've come to face all this while. We are all Everymen; we are ordinary people, we are not rich, we have all the problems and difficulties that any other person has, but we have overcome that all."

The mayor of Vale paused for a moment, a smile lighting his face as he looked upon the citizens of Vale proudly.

"And without further ado, let's just relax, have fun and enjoy ourselves as much as we want today! Don't forget to join in the feast, and a glorious Merry Christmas to you all! May this year's Christmas be more loving and fun than any other!"

A thunderous applause and cheer followed from the crowd as the mayor descended from the 'stage' that had been set up earlier on in the morning. The crowd slowly dispersed, most of them heading towards the mayor's house to join in the Christmas feast that they had yearly.

"So Isaac, how many presents did you get this time?" Garet asked inquisitively as they walked along the streets together with their usual 'gang' of friends, as everyone in town called it.

The spiky-headed teen merely laughed. "You never fail to ask that every year, Garet."

"Competing?" Blond-haired Ivan inquired further.

"Yeah, they do that every year. Childish, isn't it?" Jenna chuckled.

"Hey! You mean only Garet does that, not me," Isaac objected, raising a hand in front of his face in a pretence act of defense.

"So how many did you get?" The Mercury Adept known as Mia redirected him back to the original question.

"Um… let's see… one each from Mum and Dad, one from Mia, one from Feizhi (though I'm surprised it managed to reach us here in Vale), and counting our own feast, that makes five, I guess," he replied.

"Hmm… I got one from Mum and Dad, one from Aaron and Kay, one from Jenna, our own feast, and—Hey, that's not fair! I only have four! Give me one more, Jenna!" Garet protested mildly. Everyone else either laughed or chuckled at the absurdity of his remark.

Jenna elbowed him on the arm playfully. "Silly! Force me to give you a present again and I might give you a Dragon Fume or a Searing Beam as your second Christmas gift, Garet," she hinted, a dangerous but mischievous glint in her eyes.

As the eight of them strolled together towards Garet's house, several young girls passed by them as they walked in the opposite direction. Upon laying eyes on them, the shy-behaving girls immediately looked away with an obvious color on their cheeks, while those more-daring ones took the opportunity to wink at them.

Garet stopped in his steps, scratching his head in a stupefied manner. "What in Mars were those girls doing? Like they've never seen us before, doing those 'blushings' and 'winkings' at us!" he declared. "Which of us were they winking at anyway?" he wondered.

At this both Jenna and Mia laughed lightly. "Well, we girls can tell you that. I don't know who came up with the idea, but I heard that there's these 'associations', namely the OBHL and the FBL," Jenna explained.

"OBHL?" Felix asked, unfamiliar with the short-formed term.

"Oh, and the PGBHVA, too," Mia added.

All the males frowned. "What do this OBHL, FBL and this PG-whatever stand for? Never heard of that before." Isaac asked, searching valiantly in his mind for an answer.

The female blonde this time stepped in. "I'll tell you," Sheba said, smirking. "OBHL is the shortened term for 'Obsessions of a Blue Haired Lemurian', and FBL stands for 'Fans of a Blonde Midget'."

While choruses of 'oh' were expected, only dark-haired Felix remained as stoic as ever while the others looked blankly. "Blue-haired Lemurian, and blonde midget; meaning Piers and Ivan?" Felix inquired steadily.

"Of course! There isn't any other blue-haired Lemurian, or any blonde midget for that matter, right?" Jenna declared proudly.

Both Piers and Ivan tried to look as modest as they could unsuccessfully. "Oh… so, to put it bluntly, there is a… fanclub specially for Piers and I?"

"Exactly." Mia nodded.

"Well well, aren't we just popular, Ivan?" Piers chuckled. "I never heard of such things in Lemuria."

"Well, I never expected to have a fanclub of all things…" The blonde boy wondered for a minute before something struck him. "Wait a minute, they called me a MIDGET!"

"Hey! How come you guys have fanclubs when you've just been here for a few months on and off, when I've, like, been LIVING here for my whole life?" Garet protested indignantly.

Sheba shook her head. "That's the weird thing. Maybe they're just too fed up looking at your faces everyday," she said teasingly. "No offence, Isaac and Garet, but sometimes girls just like 'new' and unique stuff, you know?"

"Like what?" Isaac asked curiously.

"Hmm… like, having long, blue hair, and a blonde boy with purple eyes who's a shorty?" Jenna suggested helpfully, smiling devilishly.

"Hey! Don't call me a shorty! I'm just a few centimeters shorter than you, Jenna!" Ivan protested again.

"Well, aren't you honoured that people still like you even though you're a _midget _to them, Ivan?" Garet teased unmercifully.

"Gah, whatever. At least I still have a fanclub of my own… not like SOMEONE else, right?" he teased back with a half-grin.

Garet seemed at a loss for words to say, but luckily for him, Jenna came to his rescue. "Well, at least that lessens the competition to take him, don't you think? At least I won't have a hard time getting him, you know." She winked at Garet, an act that made Felix snort privately.

"Yeah, bite that back, Ivan," the redhead gleefully countered.

"Guys, guys…" Isaac shook his head. The aqua-haired girl beside him only smiled.

"Well, I don't think girls would take an interest in me anymore if I told them that I was not as young as they thought…" Piers chuckled.

"Oh, I don't think it would matter, Piers. I bet they would still swoon over you even if they knew that," Mia said.

"Give them a Kraden-looking person and they'll run a mile away," Felix joked, now in his rare humour moods as he joined in the conversation lightly.

"More than that, I think. He does ramble a lot," Jenna mused dryly, recounting the previous times where she was forced to listen to the old man to his 'stories and theories of Alchemy', as he called it.

"Don't worry, Ivan," Sheba reassured the blonde beside her with a devious grin, "if those fangirls ever try to kidnap you or something, you can rely on me to gift them with a brilliant Spark Plasma as their precious gift from their idol's _partner_."

"Ha… ha… ha… I see," was the only reply from him.

"Scary… some things are just beyond our ken." Isaac whispered.

"Yes, you should have seen how she used to blast all the monsters away a long time ago with just one Spark Plasma when she was mad," Piers remarked with a grin.

"Wait… why didn't anyone ask why didn't Sheba include Felix when she said 'no offense' earlier on?" Mia asked curiously with a knowing smile.

"Hmm… yes, that is true. We got rather carried off," Piers admitted. "Why?"

"And you guys didn't ask what did the PGBHVA stands for," Jenna added, also grinning.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. Why is the term so long anyway?" Garet asked.

"Um… let's see… ah yes, PGBHVA stands for 'Psychotic Groupie of a Brown Haired Venus Adept'," Sheba explained. "Of course, meaning Felix. That's why I didn't include him when I said the girls were 'fed up' with your faces, Isaac and Garet."

Even Felix himself looked surprised.

"Damn! Why am I ALWAYS left out? We both live in the same village, and yet he's more popular than me? What's the Wise One thinking, man?" Garet said agitatedly. Even until now, he was only able to come on neutral terms with the Venus Adept. Both parties still found normal communication awkward and difficult, especially when Felix found out that his sister had taken a liking to the redhead.

"You're just jealous that you have no fans, Garet," Felix coldly replied, but unable to hide a small smirk on his face.

Pretending a fake act of hurt on his face, Isaac put a hand on his chest. "Hey, don't forget me too. I'm being ignored totally!"

"Oh, don't cry," Mia playfully comforted. "You've still got me, right?"

"But I was pretty surprised too when I heard all about these 'associations' thing; I didn't think the males in our party would be so popular with the Valean girls." Jenna grinned.

"Looks like we have an attractive party, indeed," Sheba agreed.

Stopping in his steps as they approached a large decorated building with its roof topped with falling snow, Garet abruptly changed the topic of the conversation. "Ah, here we are; home! Finally! I've been waiting for this for so long!"

Isaac laughed, his merry laugh echoing in the sky. "You mean, you're so hungry until you can take ten servings all straight?"

"Hmm… I wish I could. You know, I heard from Kay that the villagers are actually cooking really delicious food today? I bet I can smell the food from here!" And to prove his statement, he tried sniffing the empty air, but only to have a drop of snow plop down his nose.

"Whatever, Garet; keep sniffing the air for 'smells', and we'll leave you standing there, glutton. Eat the snow if you like." Ivan grinned, as they began entering the busy house already filled with many people through the front door.

"Hey! Wait for me!"

_  
----XIII----  
_"_Memories of young times are irreplaceable."_

_  
24th December, 10:28 A.M._

_Dear Diary,_

_I'm really sorry for not writing in last night as I would always do, but I was too tired out knitting, and I ended up falling asleep by my chair last night. But anyway, I'll write in here now, okay? Hmm… let's see… yup, today's Christmas Eve! One more day to Christmas, I can't wait for Christmas to come! But there's one thing that bothers me a little; even though it's already the month of December, it's still not snowing over here in Vale, like it always did in the previous years. Winter hasn't come yet… I wonder why? Somehow, Christmas doesn't seem quite right without snowing… or maybe it's just me. It probably doesn't matter._

_But today's a good day to start off with, I guess… but I'm feeling a little pissed off right now, thanks to Garet. You know, he trampled on my flowers AGAIN this morning! Ohh, I'm gonna load him with all my Christmas shopping when I go around the shops this afternoon! Geez… he was just SO excited when he heard that his friends were coming over to celebrate Christmas together a week ago. Still as clumsy as ever, that brother of mine… he is more grown-up, but hey, we're talking about Garet here (but no offence, really). His vocabulary seems to have improved too somehow… maybe he got indirect lessons from Isaac or someone else; I wouldn't be surprised. Why, I still remember the time when he was six and couldn't even pronounce 'evil' properly, you know? It always came up as 'ewil' instead. It was so cute!_

_Guess I'll stop here for now… see you again tonight! _

_Signing off,  
__Kay_

_P.S. I guess I have to buy a new book soon again. I'll just have enough pages to fit in tonight's and tomorrow night's entry, I think. When did I buy this book? Oh yeah, on 1st August. Hmm… I really do write a lot._

_  
----XIV----  
_"_Watching a battle can be just as exciting as being in one, as long as you feel it."_

"Kay! Hurry up! I need more ammo to counterattack!"

"Don't rush me, I'm trying my best! Here! That's one for you each!"

Kay handed two little spherical snowballs hurriedly to an excited Garet and an equally fired-up Jenna who stood in front of her as her protective shield. Playing the snowballing game in an empty free space, she had been ushered to be the Mars Adepts' 'supporter member' (as the rules said), while he and Jenna threw them at their opponents. And their opponents turned out to be a combination of Isaac, Mia and Ivan, who had amazingly good teamwork. But if it took them the whole afternoon just to beat Isaac and make him admit defeat, Garet would make sure he would do it.

"Hya!" Garet threw the snowball on Isaac's face, and unfortunately for the leader in their group, it hit him directly as Garet aimed it to be before he had the time to duck.

"Ow!" Sputtering out and shaking his head from the snow, Isaac counterattacked with another two snowballs back at his friend, both aiming at the two opposing Adepts' face. "Ivan, make sure you don't get hit, or we'll lose precious time while waiting for you to recover! Don't forget you're supposed to supply snowballs for both of us!"

"Aye aye, captain!" the blonde Jupiter Adept complied, mimicking the style of a sea-pirate.

"We're counting on you, Ivan!" Mia said, while busy throwing snowballs at Jenna. Her snowballs sometimes missed the target, but once it did, it hit real good.

"Garet, if you dare to fart now, I swear I'll shove you twelve dozen snowballs, and purposely let you guys lose! If you're acting as a shield for me, then be like one, get it!" Kay shouted in warning as her deft hands made more snowballs, her body in a crouching position. Her snowballs were small but packed, whereas her opponents' ammunitions were bigger in size but not as packed. Snowballs flew from side to side fiercely.

As winter came very late, the ground had not frozen yet, so skiing was not an option. There were other snowballing matches among the rest of the villagers too, especially among the young children of age. And before the match began, it was decided that it was a 'gender match': Garet was against Isaac, and Jenna against Mia. Outside the 'battlefield', Piers, Aaron and Garet's mother cheered for Garet's team, while Sheba, Jenna's parents (even though she was on the other side) and Felix took sides with Isaac's team, the latter choosing to side with Isaac due to the fact that the 'simpleton oaf' was the enemy. Of course, not before a glare from his sister for doing so. The 'referee' for the match was the mayor of Vale himself.

"Go Ivan!" Sheba cheered.

"You can do it, Garet!" his mother cheered.

"Shoot properly, Garet!" Aaron reminded.

"You don't need to tell me that, kid!" Garet half-snapped back. "Geez… like I'm some kid… take that, Isaac!" Another snowball landed on Isaac's face.

"Jenna! Don't just throw wildly! Keep your aim steady!" Kay advised excitedly, shouting amidst the loud noise.

"I'm trying! It's been so long since I played this game!" she replied.

"Just pretend that you're aiming a Dragon Fume, Jenna!" said a snow-pelted Garet, launching his own flurry of attacks while barely dodging a wheezing snowball aimed for his stomach.

"But it isn't the same! If I try to do that, I think I'd more likely cast Dragon Fume itself!" she replied, aiming a snowball at the aqua-haired girl's face to strike her attention away. She couldn't hope to freeze her hand's movements with the freezing coldness of the snowballs, since the girl was accustomed to snow, and an experienced Mercury Adept at that. But Mia's reflexes were not as fast as Jenna. She knew where to hit her.

"Ivan! More!"

"Coming!" Despite it being just a snowballing game match, they all felt as though it was just as crucial as any of their normal battles with enemies.

"This isn't getting anywhere…" Kay muttered, passing snowballs at her teammates.

"We have to organise a strategy plan!" Jenna whispered excitedly, hardly audible amidst the loud noise.

"But I was never good with those kind of stuff—ow!" the redhead said, rubbing his sore left arm as Isaac's snowball hit him. "Damn… I'm a bit too slow in my movements…"

"Aim for Ivan! Stop the snowballs so that Isaac and Mia will be forced to make their own!" Garet's sister quickly whispered.

But on the other side, Isaac's team also came up with the same idea. "Hit Kay! Defend Ivan!" Isaac shouted.

As if computerised, snowballs immediately changed direction as they reached for a different target. Both attacking opponents defended their own supporter member as much as they could. Watching their movements, the mayor looked carefully and thought. Then he nodded his head. Without warning, the mayor blew the whistle. Everyone stopped and looked at him inquiringly. Was the match stopped?

"Attention! As referee of this match, I'll like to change the winning condition. Instead of waiting for claim of defeat from either team, both teams' objective is now to get one hit on the supporter of either team! As long as it hits anywhere of the supporter member, you win! That is all; resume the match!" He blew the whistle again, and both teams continued with spirit. Just one hit!

"Remember! Don't step off our line, or you'll get disqualified!" Kay reminded, barely managing to dodge a snowball aimed for her legs.

"Got that! Jenna, you aim for Ivan! I'll somehow try to keep Isaac and Mia off bay! Defend Kay at all costs!"

"Right! Yaa!" She threw a snowball at the midget's side but unfortunately Mia stepped in and took the hit. She launched another snowball back at Jenna.

"Continue aiming at Kay!" Isaac leaded.

"Kay, can you try to launch your own attack?" Garet asked, throwing a snowball at the same time.

"It's hard, you know! I have to make snowballs enough for two people!" she answered back, her hands deftly making more snowballs. "If we don't stop soon, even the gloves I have won't help to keep my hands from getting freezing cold!"

"Change! Can't we change supporter member?" Jenna offered a suggestion.

"Switching is not allowed in this match," the mayor replied calmly.

"Great, I was hoping we could switch from time to time…" Ivan muttered from the other side.

"Try to launch your own attack if you find the chance, Kay! We're also busy keeping our own opponents off bay! You have to try!"

"I'm trying!" she shouted, trying to make herself heard.

"Go, go, go!" Cheers went up for both sides as the spectators gave words of encouragement to keep them on.

Trying to spot for any uncovered defenses on her enemy's side, Jenna unluckily found none. While she blocked off attacks and sent her own launches, she raked her brain and thought hard, and finally a plan slowly formatted in her mind.

"I've got it!" she fiercely whispered. "This is quite a big risk, but this is the only way I can think of right now," she confided to the two siblings, "here's the plan: Garet and I will suddenly try to attack Ivan from the edges of the sides. Isaac and Mia will try to cover, and during that time Kay will throw a snowball at him. If we're lucky enough, we'll be able to hit Ivan. How's that?"

"Good plan, but I think Isaac and co. will be ready to receive decoys, Jenna," Kay replied slowly. "But you've given me a good start. I've got a better idea, I think." She lowered her voice only audible to the other two as she related her plan.

"But if we don't finish it, we lose. Right, we'll try it. Better than any plan I can form any time," Garet mused dryly. "Ready, Jenna?" His partner nodded.

"I'll have to make enough snowballs first; make your own and just hurl it at them for the mean time!" Kay shouted an order. Both Mars Adepts immediately complied, scooping down in a swift motion and gathered a clump of snow before quickly rounding it into a snowball.

"What are Garet and Jenna doing? Isn't Kay supposed to make snowballs?" Mia asked curiously.

"I think they have some kind of plan… we better be on extra alert," Isaac warned, his eyes continuously monitoring his opponents' actions. "In the mean time, try to hit Kay while they're bending down!"

Rounding the last snowball, Kay handed two snowballs each to Garet and Jenna. "Done! This is it; but don't blame me if we lose, okay? This is a oneshot!"

"Fine… try to dodge the snowballs that might come when we step aside, Kay. Right… and… NOW!"

In an instant, Garet and Jenna suddenly stepped aside with quick steps and with an expert eye, both aimed a snowball each at Ivan from both left and right sides. Every spectator fell silent and watched with awe, everyone thinking the same thing: What were they planning to do, leaving Kay in the open?

"Ivan! LOOK OUT!" Mia shouted.

"Mia! Cover the right side!" Isaac ordered as he made quick movements to the side and let himself get the hit from the snowball. Mia followed his steps.

"NOW!" Upon Kay's order, both Garet and Jenna launched another snowball from each side, but this time from above as they jumped and threw it high up into the air.

"Don't move outside; move inside our circle, Ivan!" Isaac ordered again.

Complying with the order, Ivan scrambled nearer to the two Adepts, and narrowly missed the two snowballs landing from above.

"Mia! This is our chance!" The spiky-headed teen began to direct Mia, but he didn't need to give out the order. Seeing the chance, Mia immediately launched a snowball at Kay, and another from Isaac. Luckily for the red-haired girl, she hurriedly shot to the right to escape the attacks. She stretched out both her hands, and her opponents saw that she had two snowballs left. Acting quickly, Kay threw a snowball at Ivan. His reflexes quick, he dodged and moved backwards.

Both Isaac and Mia prepared to launch their attacks, but before either of them could do it, their faces got a hit from snowballs, causing them to step backwards. "We're your opponents," both Garet and Jenna simultaneously chorused. They began throwing roughly-made snowballs at them to keep them busy.

"She has one more snowball! Watch out, Ivan!" Mia warned. At this sentence Kay smiled.

_This is my only chance… _Ducking low, Kay threw her second snowball at Ivan in a swift motion while his eyes were focused on the ground, hurriedly moving backwards. "Whew…" he began to heave a sigh of relief, but when the blond boy raised his purple eyes, he saw another snowball hurling with amazing speed aimed for him.

"Oh crap, she had another hidden snowball!" Realising that he could not rely on either Isaac or Mia to rush to his cover in time as they were occupied, he scrambled to the left trying to escape the hit, and Kay's snowball just missed touching his last toe by an inch. His breathing pace quickened.

But it wasn't over yet.

Anticipating his move, Kay hurled her very last snowball at him directly from the left. It hit Ivan squarely and smartly on the nose before he could react.

Almost immediately, the mayor blew the whistle. "Game over! Win goes to Garet's team! Good game, everyone!"

Everyone cheered. Garet and Jenna both hugged Kay happily. "We won! We did it!" Jenna beamed.

"You're a good shot and planner, sis! That was way cool!" Garet praised. "Having hidden snowballs!"

"Thanks, both of you. It was dangerous, but very exciting, I'll admit. I thought my shot wouldn't have landed!"

Meanwhile, the opposing team came up and shook hands with each other. "Hey, guys, great game! Good plan, too. Don't tell me you came up with that plan, Garet?" Isaac teased, a huge grin on his face. Even Felix himself seemed impressed by their plan.

"No, Kay did," Jenna answered.

"It was the best snowballing game I ever had!" Mia exclaimed. "Let's play that again next time!"

"Yeah, and next time don't make me the supporter; my hands are bitter cold," Ivan mused wryly, but also smiling. "I didn't think that you guys would purposely show us your hands so that we would think that you'd only two snowballs to use."

By this time, their friends had joined them. "That was amazing," Sheba said.

"Perhaps we should all go to Garet's house and warm up. It must be cold," Piers suggested.

"Yeah, and I'll give everyone a treat! Man, the ending was the best part!" The redhead boy exclaimed. "It was just as risky as when we really battled with monsters!"

Kay laughed with the rest, as she cleared off any snow stuck to her clothes. "You better not get a cold tomorrow, Garet."

… _Was that how Garet and the others felt whenever they fought their enemies last time? I think I now understand what he meant when he kept saying how fun it was sometimes, battling with monsters. _

_I think snowballing really went up top my list. _

_  
----XV----  
_"_Recording memories on paper is truly time-filling indeed."_

_24th December, 9:50 P.M._

_Dear Diary,_

_Hey, it sure does feel kinda weird, writing in a diary twice in a day… but oh well, it doesn't really matter. I did it once anyway…_

_Just several more hours to Christmas! It's been a long day, you know… I had to go shopping around town today just to look for presents. Luckily I still had enough time to finish all of them, and of course, finish my knitting too. You know, it was so funny to see Garet tagging along with me while I was shopping the whole afternoon! He looked like he was going to sleep any second. Men. Always so impatient and all that. Who asked Garet to trample on my flowers anyway? But you know… seeing him look so bored made me feel a little guilty… oh well._

_The decorations today went well. I wish you could have seen the Christmas tree; it looked so nice! I was supposed to watch the kids with Jenna, but Mars knows what she was doing with Garet… I hope nothing bad though. But why would she want to conceal it from me, Isaac and Mia when we asked her? Sounds pretty fishy… but I guess I'll know in good time. No good pressing people like Jenna anyway; she'll all the more shut up like a clam._

_You know, I just realised that I never did make a wish for what I want for Christmas… I wonder what I'll get tomorrow? I can't wait! Anyway, guess I should have an early sleep… I want to be up early tomorrow morning; I've got to help with breakfast! And then we'll have a feast in the afternoon later on; I'm sure Garet and Aaron's mouths will water when they see the roasted turkey! Man, guys sure do eat a lot… they just have big stomachs, I guess. I just hope Aaron won't grow fat. _

_If I were ever to try eating their meal amounts everyday, I think I'll become a puffed-up balloon. Ew…_

_Good night!_

_Eagerly waiting,  
__Kay _

_P.S. The snapshot on the cover of this book is getting quite old. Maybe I should replace it with a new one… that's an idea._

_  
----XVI----  
_"_They say the truth will set you free. But then why is it that every time I tell the truth I get sent to my room?"_

Sol withdrew from the skies, allowing the dim light of Luna to descend as night approached. Night came earlier than usual, as it always did when Winter settled on the horizon, his hair frozen. Stars began to sparkle softly faraway, emitting a light glow as they brightened up the dark sky. The round, spherical moon could be clearly seen as the clouds dispersed, its tender yellow shine making the skies even more beautiful than ever. Little snowflakes fell down continuously, the soft white pieces of frozen water settling on the ground.

As one would say it without a doubt, it was a lovely night, truly befitting the night of Christmas.

"Like what legends and fairytales always say; the night is so beautiful. The stars and the moon are shining, and there aren't any clouds that cover the sky, and to top it off, lovely snow falls down from the heavens," Mia half-mocked sarcastically, with a touch of humour in her voice as she mimicked the usual familiar lines in a book. "And then of all nights, a shooting star will somehow descend, and make the night even more beautiful than ever. So perfect. That's how those fairytale stories always go."

Isaac laughed as he sat beside her on the hill that overlooked Vale. The very same hill that he and his friends had stood on upon their return to Vale after completing their journey. It brought past memories back. "Where did that come from?"

She shrugged her shoulders lightly. "I don't know," she answered laconically, "the words were just out of my head somehow." She chuckled as she continued, "And just when everything is so peaceful and quiet, a scream will suddenly shatter the night and break chaos. All will suddenly be in turmoil."

He raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Do you predict that to happen tonight as well? After all, it's really a beautiful and a peaceful night. Just like the 'legends and fairytales' say," he imitated her words.

"I wonder… but it probably won't happen. Those are fairytales, anyway," she said, leaning her head on his shoulder half-sleepily. "It's a good night…"

"Mia?"

"Mmm?" she raised her head and looked at him in the eye. It was amazing how his deep azure eyes could always entrance her…

Without replying further, he delved into his pocket and brought out a small velvet box. When he opened it slowly in front of her, Mia gasped when she saw the contents inside it. "Isaac…"

He nodded his head. "Go on; take it." He smiled. "It's for you, and I don't mean to give it to anyone else ever."

"Oh Isaac…" she gently took the ring from the box and examined it thoroughly. It was a pure platinum ring, and a lovely sapphire stone was set on it, shining with the light when reflected. He knew that she loved sapphires. And he didn't need to ask her anything. Both of them understood.

_Meanwhile, somewhere in Vale… _

"What? You're… giving me a present now?" Garet asked half-disbelievingly.

"Oh, so you don't want it, is that it?" Kay answered back, half-pulling back the present that she held in her hands. It was a medium-sized box neatly wrapped up with red-colored present paper. What exactly was in it, Garet obviously did not know. It wasn't anything big, and by the looks of it, the present was probably clothes or some kind.

"No, no!" Garet hastily declined, shaking his head fervently. He was holding a black plastic bag in his left hand, which, of course, roused Kay's curiosity at once. She wondered briefly for a second as to the contents in the bag, but let the matter pass. "I was just surprised that you're giving me one now. I mean, I thought that if you were giving me a Christmas present, you would have, like, given it to me first thing in the morning or something, you know what I mean?"

He looked so abashed that Kay couldn't help chuckling. "Yeah, yeah, I think I know what you mean. Anyway, Merry Christmas." She smiled, handing the present over to her brother.

"Thanks a lot!" he beamed. He hadn't expected to receive a Christmas present by Kay herself; after all, she and Aaron had given a double-share present; a fine suit of clothes with a smart tie. Placing the black bag down on an empty bench as the Christmas present exchanged owners, his hand by instinct reached for any opening to tear open the wrapping present paper, but stopped in time to look inquiringly at Kay.

She understood his question. "Go ahead; open it. No ceremony needed," she said.

"Right-o!" He practically _tore _the wrapping present paper into half, or so Kay mused with some amusement.

_Really just like a little kid… like when he was five years old, tearing the present paper like that. Some parts of him from when he adopted since young still haven't changed until now, I see. But that's what that makes Garet, I guess… and somehow, I don't think I would have it any other way._

"Aha! A sweater!" Garet exclaimed with much gusto. Placing the unwrapped box on the bench beside his bag, he unfolded a maroon-coloured sweater, made from sheep's wool. Glancing with much delight, he noticed the letters embroidered 'G-A-R-E-T' on the left side of the front part. It was simple, but that was what Garet liked about his clothes. As long as they were big enough, warm and comfortable, they were good enough for his simple tastes. He wasn't picky about his clothes.

"Hey, this is great! I've always wanted to buy a new sweater these past few days, since mine got too small to fit me. Where did you buy this sweater anyway?" he asked excitedly.

Kay beamed, proud of her work. It was good enough until he thought that it was not of her own handiwork! That really was something, she thought. "Actually, I made it."

He stared at her. "Oh."

"And besides, even if I bought it, you shouldn't ask where did I buy it, or how much did it cost me. Just some policy, you know?" she winked.

"You… sewed it yourself?" he asked again.

"Well, of course. If I asked help from Mum, it wouldn't be my work anymore, right?" she countered. She was glad he liked her work; truth to tell, she was actually a trifle worried that he wouldn't like it. After all, he could just as easily find another one from any shop, and perhaps nicer ones too.

"But… when did you start doing this?" he asked, holding the sweater as far as he could for further inspection from further distance.

"Now, that's another question people usually don't ask," she reprimanded, looking severely at him but with a humour glint in her eye.

Before she could say anything more, Garet suddenly pulled her into a tight brotherly hug. "Thanks, Kay. I really appreciate it. It's a 'masterpiece', like how Isaac taught me to say." He grinned as he released her from the hug.

Kay smiled. "Thanks. I thought it was a bit too simple, though."

"Oh no, I like it. Simple is my taste; that's what Ivan always said. I like it as it is, especially since it has my name sewn there," he beamed.

"Glad to hear that," she replied, smiling back. "I thought you might like 'specific identification' for your clothes for a change."

"Ah yes, speaking of presents, I've got something for you too," he said, suddenly feeling slightly awkward. What was he going to tell her?

Kay was very much surprised by his statement. "You have?" Like him, she didn't expect him to gift her with another Christmas present, since he had already given her a lovely curio; a ship in a bottle, something that she liked very much. "But why didn't you give me together with the curio you gave me earlier on this morning?"

Surprisingly, he seemed pretty much hesitant to reveal the answer. _Why not?_ "Uh… er… well… anyway, here's your second Christmas present." And to Kay's astonishment, he reached out for the bag and delved out a medium-sized chrome-coloured thick book. "I just got it today, so I didn't have time to wrap it up. You know I suck at wrapping anyway… it took me one hour to wrap Jenna's present yesterday," he muttered half-ashamedly.

The long red-haired young woman smiled serenely. "Thank you, Garet. A storybook for me?" she asked as she received the book. Upon examining it in silence, she discovered that it was neither a storybook of any kind, nor a notepad-book, but—

"A diary?" Kay asked incredulously.

Here Garet seemed to stutter as he hesitantly answered. "Er… yeah, a diary. You… don't like it?"

She threw an 'are-you-crazy' look, before letting a light squeal escape from her lips. "No, silly! Of course I like it! It's the perfect gift I've ever gotten among all of the Christmas presents that I've received today!" she exclaimed happily. "I've been wanting to buy a new one, but I didn't have enough money, since I spent most of it on the Christmas presents."

Garet heaved a sigh of relief, and words began pouring from his once-stuck throat. "Oh, you have to believe me when I say that I'm so glad to hear that. I know that there isn't space to put snapshots or photographs under the cover, and the colour isn't as nice as the former one, but I couldn't find a purple-coloured book with the same covering and style anywhere else. I tried to get Jenna to help as well, and we searched around the shops in town, but in the end, I thought this was the best buy I could get," he explained ruefully.

… _He actually searched around the shops, and even asked Jenna to help him out with just the small matter of getting a diary? Garet… _Kay started to let her thoughts wander away when a shocking thought struck her mind like a thunderbolt. _Wait a minute… _"Just how did _you_ and _Jenna_, of all people, know that I have a diary anyway? And how did you know that I have to buy a new one soon, and that it's purple in colour, and there's space to put a snapshot?" she asked aloud, voicing her own thoughts into the open.

Her words brought immediate response from the redhead as he flinched guiltily, half-smacking himself in his inner mind for his carelessness at letting the words practically slip from his mouth. _Stupid, stupid, stupid,_ he began to chant in his head. "Er… well…"

"Yes?" she prompted him sharply, her mind in a running whirl. Her ruby eyes narrowed as she bore her eyes on Garet. "How exactly did you know all these things? And so detailed, too!"

"Uh… I…"

"You looked into my diary, didn't you?" Those abrupt words came out from her mouth like a lashing whip. Garet was cornered; he knew that fairly well. He couldn't try to deny it, and make her believe that. He obviously knew her more than enough to realise that. Maybe if he was fast enough, he could try to apologise…

"It… I didn't do it on purpose!" Blatant words came tumbling out of his mouth now. "You see, I just… er, stumbled into your room yesterday evening, and well, I er… came across your diary… and—"

"Stop," she commanded, raising a slim hand as a stop signal. "I've heard enough. I see it all now. No wonder Jenna was late in helping with the Christmas decorations, and no wonder she seemed so hesitant to tell me what was she doing with you yesterday evening. You STEPPED into MY room, and LOOKED into MY diary, and READ it with Jenna, didn't you? Say you did! I know you did!" she said each and every word loudly, gradually submitting to a temper. Her previous good mood was totally gone as anger overtook her.

Garet stepped back, half-afraid of his sister's glaring hot temper. _It all seems to run in the family,_ he thought. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to land into your room, honest! I was too tired out after shopping with you, so I somehow went into your room, because I thought it was mine. And your diary was, like, put out so openly for people to read! I just wanted to know what it was; I swear that I didn't know it was a diary!"

She stepped a foot forward, her eyes glaring daggers at him. If looks could kill, he would definitely be dead on the ground right now. "You mean YOUR curiosity was too great to restrain yourself from opening MY personal stuff, right? So now you're saying that it's MY fault that I brought you shopping? That I put MY diary 'so openly for people to read' when it's MY room in the first place!" She was seriously starting to get hysterical now, Garet felt. He had never saw her blowing so much steam before, but that was because he was careful enough not to ever tread a foot in her room. If there was a negative characteristic about Kay, it was that she was very touchy when her personal private stuff was concerned.

_Stupid mouth, stupid mouth, why did I EVER let the words slip? Crap, crap, crap! At least I didn't tell her that I did lie down on her bed… she'd have seriously exploded. Now I'm going to get some black looks from Kay for the next few days… and Mum would scold me again. I wouldn't be surprised if she placed a lock and double chains on her door tomorrow…_

"Look, Kay, I'm sorry! I'm really, really, really sorry! Please forgive me, okay?" Garet pleaded, really perplexed with himself. He tried to rake his brain for anything that could make her calmer, and finally found a little something. "Well, at least I still bought a new diary for you! I could have just done nothing, right? If I didn't know you had a diary, I wouldn't have got you one!" he desperately said. That was the only thing that he could think of right now. If it didn't work, his first and master plan was to run away as fast as he could before she gave him a night-echoing slapping and smacking. Oh, he knew Kay's brute strength when she was angry.

_This is much, much worse than stepping on her flowers… I'd rather have a Doom Dragon than facing Kay right now. …No, wait, on second thoughts, I'd still prefer Kay. She can't kill me; I'm her brother!_

"Yeah, thank you sooo much for the new, beautiful diary, Garet," Kay replied, her voice laced with sarcasm. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about that. I mean, if you didn't peek into my diary, I wouldn't have gotten a new, free diary, right?" she smiled, almost to the extent of beaming.

Garet watched her warily. When Kay was mad she could go off to extreme ends, but as to what ends he couldn't tell. "Er… I um… I guess so…" His last tactic resort wouldn't work so well, he knew; there was something WAY wrong. He'd tried 'talking' to a ferocious-looking lizard once, and instead of running away like all lizards did, it lashed out at him instead.

Kay nodded her head in a slow rhythm. "Yeah… yeah…" she muttered under her breath slowly. And to Garet's amazement, her sweet, gentle smile suddenly twisted into a rather sneering, dangerous smile that Garet recognised so well over the past many years living in the same house. "Even if you did get me a new diary, I still can't forgive you! I WON'T! Even if you accidentally stepped into my room, you DIDN'T need to open MY diary, did you! DIDN'T you see MY name on the cover of the diary? NO, I bet YOU didn't!" she practically screamed.

"Right. Now's my cue to run off…" he muttered warily as he backed off slowly, but still facing an angry Kay. Her red eyes seemed to glint and burn with a dangerous look, and if this wasn't reality, he bet there would be smoke would rise from her ears, an extra pair of devil horns on her head, and a visible killing aura around her.

"And I thought I would have a nice, peaceful Christmas night… at least I have much more stamina than last time." Those were his last words before he spun around and quickly sprinted off, with a thundering Kay behind his trails.

"Just you wait there, young man!" she screamed into the night. "GARRREEETTT!"

The scream Kay emitted echoed throughout the whole village, and everyone in the village heard it. Of course, knowing what the girl was mad at, they just smiled and said, "Well, aren't they just energetic?"

Through the silent night the scream could even be heard at the hills, where young Isaac and Mia were. Unfortunately, Kay's scream could not have come at a more unlucky time.

Her scream pierced through the silent night, and both Isaac and Mia received a jolt. Jumping in momentary shock, Mia suddenly felt her fingers slipping off the hold over the precious ring. She watched in total horror as the ring slowly fell from her grasp and down the hill, everything played as though in slow motion, and she shrieked. She tried lashing out her hand wildly to reach it, but it was far beyond recovery.

"Oh no!" she screamed horror-stricken, but at the same moment angry with herself for being so careless with such a precious thing. _I should have just worn it first! I could have just as easily inspected it when I wore it! How could I… I…_

She seriously thought of diving after the ring after apologizing profusely to Isaac, but the leader of their team somehow saw her intentions and pulled her back. "NO, Mia. Don't jump like this and search among the thick, prickly bushes in the night; it's not worth it. Besides, how can you be so sure that it landed on the ground? It might have fallen into a nearby stream that flows far away, you know."

Tears threatened to stream down her face. How could she do this to Isaac? "Oh Isaac, I'm so sorry… I just lost the ring like that! One moment it was in my grasp, and the next moment it was already on its way down! I was so careless with it… I should have just worn it immediately, then it wouldn't have fallen down! Oh Mercury, I'm so sorry, Isaac… I really don't know what I'll do…"

Sensing her apparent sadness, Isaac pulled her into another comforting hug. "Don't cry, Mia. It's okay, really. Don't fret too much over it."

Mia looked up and glanced sadly at Isaac. "But how can I not feel sad? You must have spent so much time and money to get such a beautiful ring like that! And I just almost literally threw it away like that! I'm so sad, and mad at myself!" she shook her head fervently.

He patted her head comfortingly. "Hush. It's all right, Mia. Look!"

And to the Mercury Adept's utter astonishment, he delved into his pocket once more and brought out another velvet box, very much similar as the previous one, size, colour and all. Opening the case, Mia gasped loudly as she saw an exact duplicate of the ring. And she could tell that it was no fake ring.

Seeing Mia's plain amazement, he simply grinned. "I thought that things like this might happen, so I bought an extra one just in case emergency calls. Always convenient to have an extra, right?"

"…Oh."

_  
----XVII----  
_"_Touch my diary again, and I'll make your head turn 360 degrees without you turning them." – Kay_

_  
26th December, 12:10 A.M._

_Dear Diary (I'm getting a little bored writing 'dear diary' every time) _

_Ahh, I'm so HOT, and TIRED! Stupid Garet… gah, I feel so pissed off with him now! You know, he actually went into my room, OPENED this diary and READ it! I should think he read the rest too… I can't believe it! And he had the cheek to tell me that if he hadn't opened this diary, I wouldn't have gotten a new diary as my second Christmas present from him! As much as I would have liked a new diary, I'd have rather bought one myself if it just HAD to include him READING my private entries all way long! I've got the right to blow steam! He shouldn't have read the diary; he knew that I was damn picky about my own personal stuff! And you don't go opening people's private stuff, right?_

_I could see that he was kinda sorry, but it's still unforgivable! Give me a hundred 'sorry' sayings and I still won't buy it! Bah, in the end I couldn't chase him down to earth after all… damn his stamina! He was slow, but he could run for so long; I actually chased him non-stop for two hours straight, you know? I just had to stop running, or I think I'd fall down dead if I continued. In fact, my legs are aching terribly… they feel so numb and wobbly. I ran too much. You know, I wonder… what would I have done to that boy if I managed to outrun him? I didn't really think for a moment what I would do, all I cared was to chase him and run him down to earth if that was the last thing I did. It's not like this is the first time he's done this sort of thing, anyway; he should have known! _

_I'm all tapped out now… come to think of it, I'm pretty surprised I manage to keep a two-hour chase. Where did all that strength come from anyway? Wonders. But anyway, sorry for rambling and lamenting so much here… I just had to let off some steam. Hopefully it'll subside soon; I hate putting up a black face. Wow… just my grumbles took up almost one-third of a page! Figures. It's been so long since I was this mad. What a way to spent the Christmas night, eh?_

_Well, let's get back to other happenings during the day. This entry will definitely be my longest entry ever… Ah yes, the feast that we had in the afternoon had been pretty great; yeah, I had a part in the cooking again like last year. Wow, you should have seen Aaron staring and gaping at those delicious dishes! It was pretty funny to see him, you know. He looked so amazed to see so many varieties of dishes! We wanted to make more and special dishes this year, since Garet's friends were here to celebrate Christmas with us, and well, I guess the extra good feast was a little of our gratitude. _

_And then, a few hours later, we built a snowman. And 'we' meaning Aaron, Garet, his seven friends, and I. It was pretty much fun; since there was so many of us working on it, it turned out to be a really BIG snowman. Why, it was almost as tall as me! It had Jenna's beanie on the head, a pair of glasses on, black stones lined as the mouth, stones going downwards on the body as buttons, two sticks pointing outwards as the hands, Isaac's scarf on the neck, a pair of gloves and boots. And the most hilarious part was when Aaron somehow managed to make the snowman appear rude by making it show the finger! I almost couldn't believe it when I first saw it. I tell you, if Mum or Dad saw it, they'd be shocked. _

_We settled for a snowballing match. Garet, Jenna and I formed a team while Isaac, Ivan and Mia formed another. I didn't really want to play so much, but Garet practically dragged me to become the supporter! So I couldn't back off when Dad came as the 'referee'. Oh, I tell you, that was one hell of a game! Terrific! The climax at the ending was absolutely the best part; it was so exciting! Jenna and I thought of this multiple-decoy plan, and it actually worked! Man, every time I think about the last ten seconds, there's just this feeling in me, you know? And not like I'm boasting, but I was kinda proud that I shot the finishing move._

_And then, of course, there's no need to relate tonight's tales. I mean, you heard it already, right? This year's Christmas has been truly lovely. It's the best I ever had, I think. _

_But anyway, this will be my last entry in this book… I'll have to use the new book that Garet bought. Maybe I should write a personal line on the new book, saying 'Personal Book: Open and you die'. Heh, that's a good idea. Why didn't I think of that before? I should have put that on the cover of each of my diaries! Let's see… yeah, I think this orange book Garet just bought will be the sixth one. A lot, isn't it? I've been faithfully writing in every night over quite some time._

_You know, I didn't think for one moment last time that I would have my own diary. In fact, if it weren't for Mum, I wouldn't be writing at all! It's been quite some time since she first told me to have my own personal diary… she said that one day, when I'm old, I can look through this diary and read all of my entries slowly… and remember my own past; all those bad and good in together. That's the fun of writing in a diary. At least, that's what Mum taught me. And I've learned that it's true. It's been fun entering new entries in everyday, and to reflect on the day's happenings. It can be nothing special, but it doesn't need to be special. _

_They are my memories. And they 'make' me, so as to speak. And I don't really know why I suddenly feel like saying it… but thank you. _

_Yours truly,  
__Kay _

_

* * *

And so it ends here…_

_But it's only the beginning of the end,_

_For it takes more than an eternity to reach an end, _

_And do you know why?_

_…Because there is no end at all._

_The End_

_

* * *

_

Author's Notes: Finally completed! This is my first oneshot (or 'twoshot' for that matter) that I've made, so I hope my first try is good enough. As I first planned to dedicate an oneshot to Princess Viv, I decided to explore more on the minor unpopular characters in Golden Sun. And for my own reasons, I chose Kay as my main character here.

Thank you to enigma4ever for beta-reading both parts!

Anyways, I hope it's not too boring or too long for that matter, and I hope readers enjoy reading it, and especially for Viv! Merry Christmas, everyone!


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